Road to Recovery
by kagome04
Summary: Dick has been driven insane and is now on the road to recovery. What challenges will he face and how will the Bat-family  react to his homecoming? Complete for now but I may add more at a later. nothing graphic rating is just to be safe. please R&R!


It had been six months. Six months since Dick's mind had been broken by the Joker. Leslie said he was ready. She had said that he was mentally stable enough to go home. But Bruce still wasn't sure after all it had only been six months. That didn't seem enough time to recover from what Dick had gone through. Dick had been so bad when Bruce had brought him to Leslie. His mind had been so fractured and broken. For God's sakes he had actually thought he was the Joker! But then again who was Bruce to argue with a doctor?

As Bruce drove to the hospital to pick Dick up he realized he was… nervous he was very nervous in fact. What was he going to say to him? What should he say to him? He didn't want to say the wrong thing and he definitely did not want to jeopardize his recovery. But still as he pulled up to the hospital he didn't quite know how he should act. His stomach was in knots as he opened the front door and walked in. He called Leslie on her cell to make sure that she knew he was there. He still wasn't sure that Dick was ready. He wasn't sure of anything really. But he trusted Leslie and he figured he would have to trust her and if Leslie said Dick was ready he must be ready.

Bruce might have been ready to take Dick home but Dick wasn't ready to go home. As Bruce walked in the room he was cowering in the room.

"Dick?" Leslie said in her soft pleasing voice.

"Dick Bruce is here."

" I don't want to go." Dick said in a small voice

"But Bruce is here to take you home remember?"

She gestured to Bruce who was standing awkwardly in the corner of the room.

"HI Dick." He said in his most cheerful voice

Dick just continued to cower in the corner of the room

"Dick, Leslie said "Remember we talked about this?"

"Yah I remember but I don't want to go please don't make me." He said pleading.

"But Dick Bruce is here. He is going to take you home."

"But I don't' want to go please don't make me." Dick said continuing to cower he wouldn't even turn around and look at Bruce.

Leslie sighed and turned to Bruce. "Could you give us a few minutes?"

"Sure" Bruce said as he stepped outside

He sighed. This wasn't looking good. Dick obviously didn't want to go. He hadn't expected this. He actually hadn't known what to expect. If Dick wasn't ready to go then maybe they shouldn't force him. Maybe he should just stay here a little bit longer until he was really ready to go home. Then a terrible thought came to him. What if he was never ready to go home? What if he was never truly recovered? Never truly back to the Dick he used to be? Just then the door opened and Leslie stepped outside.

"He's ready now." She said. Bruce was shocked it had only been a few minutes what could she possibly have said to him?

"Dick come on out." As Dick stepped outside the room she noticed that he still looked terrified. He looked like a terrified little child.

"We're all set now aren't we Dick?" Dick nodded but didn't say anything.

"Alrighty then let's go!" Bruce said trying to sound as cheery as possible but it felt unnatural.

Dick was silent the whole way home he just sat and stared out the window. Bruce didn't know what to say so he was silent too.

Finally Bruce spoke up. "I-uh-got your room ready." "Yup Alfred and I fixed it all up so that it would be all ready when you came home.

"Everyone is really excited to see you." Dick nodded again

"Tim and Alfred are especially excited to see you." Another nod

Bruce sighed and they drove home in silence the rest of the way.

When they got to the house Alfred and Tim were waiting for them. "Dick!" Tim shouted and ran to give him a hug but Alfred held him back. There was a big banner that said "welcome home Dick!"Dick nodded and continued to stand slightly behind Bruce as if he was scared.

"We are so happy to have you home Master Dick it is so lovely to see you." Alfred said

"Yah what he said." Tim chimed in.

They stood there for a few minutes in awkward silence waiting for Dick to say something. When he didn't Alfred led him up to his room and left him to get settled.

A few days passed. Dick spent most of his time in his room He still wasn't ready to talk to anybody yet. However, he was eating drinking and sleeping which Bruce considered to be a good sign.

About a week after he came home Bruce knocked on the door and came into his room to ask him what he wanted for dinner. Dick was just sitting on his bed staring out the window.

"You have no idea what it was like." Dick said suddenly. Bruce wasn't expecting it and was slightly taken aback.

"What?"

"You have no idea what it was like." Dick repeated

"Oh" Bruce said as he moved to sit on the bed next to Dick.

"I know."

"Bruce it was so awful."" It was beyond awful. There are no words…"

"I thought it was never going to end." "It seemed endless."

"I know and I am so sorry." Bruce said

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because I failed you I should've found you sooner and I didn't-couldn't"

"Bruce it wasn't your fault."

"I know but I feel responsible."

"Well you shouldn't." Dick said

There was silence for a moment before Dick spoke up again.

"I can't stop thinking about it" Dick said as tears welled up in his eyes. But they did not spill over.

"It's like a constant reel going on in my head- all the things he did to me."

"They were so horrible Bruce, so horrible you have no idea. Some of them I can't even"- he stopped midsentence as he started to sob.

"I know I know" Bruce said as he put his arm around Dick.

"But it is going to be ok Dick."

"We are going to get through this together I promise. "

"We will get through this."

Dick stopped crying and nodded.

He felt better talking to Bruce. Just having him there made him feel a lot better.

"Now" Bruce said. What would you like for dinner?

**Chapter 2 **

"Chicken would be good but could I have it up here?"

"Why? Bruce asked.

"Because I'm scared."

"Of what?"

Of how they are gonna look at me."

"Who?"

"Alfred and Tim"  
>"Dick they are your family they love you."<p>

"I know but I feel like I can't face them."

"What are they going to think of me?"

"They aren't going to think anything of you they are just glad that you are home

"You don't think they will think of me differently?"

"No I don't."

There was silence for a few minutes

"I just don't think I can do it. I'm not ready Do I have to?"

"No you don't, It's ok I'll have Alfred bring your food up."

"But I want you to know that no one thinks of you differently we are all just happy to have you home."

Dick smiled for first time that he had come home. Just then there was knock on the door. It was Tim.

"What is it Tim?" Bruce asked

"Can I come in?" Bruce nodded

"I just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing." Tim said he felt more than a little awkward after all it been a whole week since Dick had come home and he hadn't said word one to him.

"He's- Bruce started- "I'm fine Tim thank you." Dick finished.

It wasn't really a lie. He really wasn't but he was better than he had been since he had come home and he could feel he was getting better every day but he didn't really feel like discussing with Tim. Tim moved to sit on the bed next to Dick almost pushing Bruce off of it entirely.

"I just wanted to say that I really missed you while you were gone and I'm really glad your back."

"Thank you Tim." "I'm glad too." Dick said and smiled again.

Seeing Dick smile again warmed Bruce's heart. It made him feel like maybe it really was possible that everything would be ok and that they would be a family again.

"Whatcha up to?" Tim asked. "Nothing much just chilling out with Bruce."

"Oh, cool."

There was silence in the room. Tim wasn't sure what else to say. Several things ran through his mind but he wasn't sure which one if any, was the right one. After all Dick had only been home for a week and Bruce had made it very clear that Dick was still fragile so he didn't want to say anything to offend him. The air was very tense in the room so Bruce decided to break it.

"Hey Tim why don't you tell Dick about the award you won at school?"

"Ok" Tim said happily. "I won an award for having the best most original science project."

Dick had zoned out during the silence and was reliving the whole nightmare in his head which is what he tended to do every waking minute these days. At least every waking minute that he wasn't focused on something else which was most of the time. Leslie was supposed to be helping him with that but was she really? Dick didn't feel like he was getting any better. Oh well, at least he hadn't been getting any worse and after all it had only been a week. Maybe It was normal to feel this way. He supposed he should give Leslie a break after all she was doing her best.

He was brought out of his reverie by the sound of someone calling his name he turned towards it source and found Bruce and Tim staring at him apparently expecting a response. Since he had no idea what had just been said he tried to think of the most generic thing possible to say.

"That's great Tim." He said. It worked Tim smiled

"I'm going to go now I've got a lot of homework to do." Tim said and got up to give Dick a hug

"I really meant what I said." "Welcome home." "I'm glad you are feeling better."

Dick smiled but it was fake it was all fake and he hated it. How long was he going to have to go on like this?

Him and Bruce sat in silence for a few moments after Tim left neither one of them sure of what to say or perhaps not having the energy to come up with something. Dick wanted to cry to scream but he didn't. Nothing came out it just all stayed trapped inside of him. He would say something again. Something comforting and supporting like he had before but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Sympathy wasn't Bruce's strong suit.

After a while he managed in a small voice: "I'm scared"

Bruce had been daydreaming and so it took him a few moments to respond.

"I know Dick that's why we are going to work on it together, you me and Leslie. "It will be ok I promise."

"But what if I never get better? What if the nightmares and visions never go away? "What if I'm never me again? "Never what I used to be?

These were hard questions to answer and Bruce didn't have all the answers he didn't know if Dick would ever get 100% better or if the nightmares and visions would ever go away or even if he would be the same Dick he used to be ever again. All he knew was that he would be there for him no matter what. For now he tried for the most reassuring response he could think of.

"They will Dick, everything will get better but it is going to take time and you have to be patient.

Dick nodded reassured.

"Now are you sure I can't talk you into having dinner downstairs. "


End file.
